Micro- & Mini-Micro Fiction

"Snow Tire" by dana

This week my media writing students will be writing micro and Twitter fiction stories.

They'll be working from the Snippets from Suburbia website, which is a catalogue of my sister-in-law Allison's incredible photography, like this photo from the holidays. They will choose one of her photos and use it to inspire a short story of 500 or fewer words.

Next they'll surf over to One Forty Fiction and read and critique a handful of works. Then they'll try their own hand at writing literature in 140 characters. (Extra credit will be awarded to any student who has a piece published by the awesome editor there!)

All this as they expand from their new blogs added just last week, launching tomorrow into the world of Twitter, and adding social media dashboard management at Hootsuite to their repertoire.

Blogging, how I've missed you.

I have been away for an entire year. I've been sick for an entire year too, and am currently struggling to pull myself back from the flu. 

Cliff Island, Maine. Heaven on Earth. (Photo by Jan.)

But enough excuses.

Next week I will once again teach Media Writing at the University of New Hampshire in Manchester. As part of that class, my students will be expected to maintain a blog throughout the semester. So I best return to the practice myself. 

This is just one in a number of blogs to come. Am looking forward to a new alliance with Allison Swift Zercher, one of the most exciting photographers on this continent. And, in the interest of full disclosure, my newly acquired sister-in-law (the wedding to my baby brother was October last). My students will visit her Snippets from Suburbia page, choose a photograph and then write a micro-fiction short story inspired by the photo. It is an exercise I so look forward to every time I teach this course. 

Back to my final tweaks of the course syllabus.... Ciao!